Fourteen Indian Americans are among 141 outstanding high school seniors selected as the 2007 prestigious Presidential Scholars for demonstrating academic achievement, artistic excellence, leadership and contribution to school and community. They will be honored in Washington DC from June 23 to 27.
Announcing the awards, US Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings said the scholars represent the great gift "we have in our nation's youth. Their academic achievement and their spirit of leadership and service will ensure their success in the 21st century knowledge economy.
"They exemplify the standard of excellence that we are striving for in all our schools across the United States, and their skills, energy and innovation will enable America to set a competitive pace in our changing world."
The 141 Presidential Scholars include one young man and one young woman from each state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, and from US families living abroad, as well as 15 chosen at-large and 20 Presidential Scholars in the Arts. A 27-member Commission on Presidential Scholars appointed by President George W Bush selected the scholars based on their academic success, artistic excellence, essays, school evaluations and transcripts, as well as evidence of community service, leadership, and demonstrated commitment to high ideals.
This years Indian American scholars are as follows: Prateek S. Bhinde, Westview High School, Beaverton, OR; Pranoti Hiremath, James A. Garfield High School, Seattle, WA; Chetan Narain, Madison High School, Madison, NJ; Neil S. Nayak, Charter School of Wilmington, Hockessin, DE; Shaan B. Patel, Clark High School, Las Vegas, NV; Shalin S. Patel, L.V. Hightower High School, Sugarland, TX; Subha Perni, Detroit Country Day School, West Bloomfield, MI; Vivek R. Sant, Andover High School, Andover, MA; Jay K. Shah, Natrona County High School, Casper, WY; Reena B. Shah, John P. Steven High School, Edison, NJ; Umang J. Shukla, Farragut High School, Knoxville, TN; Miel Sundararajan, Penn High School, Granger, IN; Arvav Tripathy, East Chapel Hill High School, Chapel Hill, NC; and Mahesh K. Vidula, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, Naperville, IL.
The Washington DC program to honor the 2007 Presidential Scholar is hosted by the Presidential Scholars Association of which one of the coordinators is an Indian American Anand Parekh, a Presidential Scholar of 1994.
